


Equilibrium

by SueN



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 17:09:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18782545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SueN/pseuds/SueN
Summary: Written for a VinList Magnificent Monday Writing Challenge.Challenge theme: Balance.A missing scene from Manhunt.





	Equilibrium

 

Ezra stepped out onto the boardwalk, drew the door closed behind him, and took a deep breath of the cool night air. Between Owen Mosely's unremitting prayers  for forgiveness and Josiah's patient silence, the atmosphere of the jailhouse had become heavy, claustrophobic, and the gambler was pleased to be released from his spell of guard duty.

Josiah had been inviting him to unburden himself, Ezra knew, but he had never found reviewing his feelings in public to be easy, or productive.  Not for the first time that day, Ezra found himself envying Buck his ability to get straight to the heart of any matter and resolve it, either with words, or indeed, with mere actions.

Within seconds of his and JD's arrival, Buck had angrily snatched up a metal cup from the stove and flung it at the outer cell bars, startling Mosely, and JD it had to be said, into silence.

The accompanying warning to _"Shut the hell up, or I might just be tempted to save the Judge the trouble of his journey,"_ was delivered with such certainty that nobody in the building had doubted for one moment that the big man meant every word.

Abandoning the game of solitaire that lay unfinished on the desk before him, Ezra had deftly gathered up the cards and slipped them into his pocket before bidding his fellow peacekeepers a goodnight and making his escape.

The light and sounds spilling from the saloon called to him but he found himself walking in the other direction, toward the alley running alongside Watson's store. He paused on reaching the storefront and almost turned on his heel but something drew him in and without fully understanding what it was, he turned into the alley.

A full moon shone overhead, lighting his way and confining the shadows to the base of surrounding buildings. Coming to a halt in front of the weather beaten wagon that sat at the end of the alley, Ezra marvelled, again not for the first time, that anyone would consider sleeping in such a ramshackle, drafty and undoubtedly uncomfortable contraption.

But then, the owner of the wagon did not share his own ideals of comfort, nor very much else, which was after all, the whole point of his being here. And now that he _was_ here, Ezra found himself unsure of what to do next. How did one knock on a canvas door, or announce one's presence, exactly?

"Somethin' I can do fer ya, Ez?"                                    

Spinning around, Ezra found Vin standing behind him, a half smile on his face.

"Mr Tanner... I thought... I presumed you had retired for the night."

"Stopped by the clinic first," Vin drawled, somewhat raspier than normal, Ezra noted.

"How is your throat?" he asked, a little awkwardly.

"Nathan says it'll be fine in a day or two. Just need to rest it some."

"Yes, quite." Ezra nodded and forced a smile. "Then I should leave you to your rest."

Despite his words, Ezra found himself unwilling to move, and Vin leaned past him to pull a crate out from around the side of the wagon.

"Might as well set a while, seein' as ya came all this way ta visit," Vin reasoned, pulling a second crate around for himself.

Ezra smiled again, unforced this time, as he cast a surreptitious eye over the surface of the crate before sitting.

"Thank you."

The two men sat in silence for several minutes, and Vin found himself watching the rare play of emotions on Ezra's face as his friend clearly struggled with his thoughts.  

"Best just spit it out, Ez, 'fore it chokes ya."

"I never spit," Ezra began indignantly, then stopped, and sighed. Why was he finding this so difficult? Taking  a deep breath, he ran the tip of his tongue over his lower lip.

"I believe I owe you an apology..."

"No, ya don't," Vin cut in and met Ezra's gaze with a shake of his head.

"I doubted your instincts." The statement was made softly, regretfully, an apology in itself.

"You were just followin' your own, same as ever'one else," Vin shrugged, offering absolution, even though he doubted it would be accepted. It felt like they were only just scratching at the surface of whatever was bothering the southerner.

"Yes... but I should have questioned them more strenuously."

A smile played on Vin's lips as he recalled his own moment of doubt, and the wisdom of a friend.

"Hope this don't come as too much of a shock, Ez but you're just a man. And every once in a while a man can be wrong."

"I was not simply wrong," Ezra sighed, refusing to be mollified. "I allowed myself to be taken in. I was too willing to believe what I wanted to be the truth, and I fear that my error of judgement has severely affected my equilibrium."

Vin frowned in concentration, one hand absently rubbing at his neck. He'd followed most of what was said, even understood a lot of it, but...

"Equi-what?" he asked finally, and Ezra allowed a small smile.

"I envy Josiah his newly restored balance... and find my own in need of attention."

"Maybe you should head on back to the village an' spend some time with Ko-je," Vin suggested, figuring it was time to poke a stick in the hole and see what climbed out. He knew they were getting closer to the heart of the problem when a new emotion flashed across Ezra's face.

"I do not need the advice of..." he retorted angrily, then checked himself as he realised what his friend had done. "Touché, Mr Tanner," Ezra acknowledged softly and dropped his head with a sigh. "There are... aspects... of my past that I have great difficulty in moving beyond."

"Can't change the past, Ez. An' it ain't just you, we all carry it with us... "

"It is what makes us who we are today," Ezra snapped, with a snort of derision.

"But it don't have to make us who we're gonna be tomorrow," Vin finished softly and waited for his friend to meet his gaze.

"You truly believe that?" Ezra asked, his customary scorn tempered with the light touch of hope.

"You don't?" Vin countered.

It was Ezra's turn to frown as he considered the question.

"Way I see it," the Texan continued, "none of us are comfortable with what happened the last couple days, especially the way things turned out, but no matter what anyone was thinkin', we stood together to defend the village and that should tell you somethin'."

Vin smiled as he watched the gambler grasp and latch on to the meaning of his words. He only wished the man's poker face could be this easy to read, hell, he'd be rich in no time.

"An' the fact we're sittin' here talkin' about it," Vin stretched out the kinks in his back as he drove his point home, "should say somethin' too."

Raising his hand to his neck again as he finished speaking, Vin hacked a cough, the sound drawing Ezra from his reverie.

"I believe it does." Ezra smiled, then winced as another cough followed. "And _that_ tells me that you should be following our resident healer's advice and resting your throat," he admonished. "I have kept you from your bed long enough."

Standing, Ezra offered his hand.

"Thank you, Vin," he said simply but the emotion shining in his eyes spoke volumes.

"You're welcome, Ez." Vin smiled, and grasped Ezra's arm in the grip he and Chanu had shared earlier that day, the grip Ezra had thought reserved exclusively for Chris.

Waiting until Vin had climbed into the wagon, Ezra moved the crates back into position, dusted off his hands and jacket, then headed out of the alley, with a lighter step, and a considerably lighter heart.

 

~~~


End file.
